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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29545647">battlegrounds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/necleon/pseuds/necleon'>necleon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood and Injury, Dead Patroclus, Drabble, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, POV First Person, does this count as a drabble?, not really an au just a change in events, probably</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:48:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>351</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29545647</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/necleon/pseuds/necleon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"The inside of my soul - there is nothing to compare to my grief."</p><p>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - </p><p>Patroclus had promised to return to his beloved, Achilles looks for him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Achilles/Patroclus (Song of Achilles)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>battlegrounds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I shat this out in like 40 minutes for a creative writing assessment lol</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He had promised to return. </p><p>Smoke billowed from the battle-ground stretching for miles upon miles, shouts and screams echoing a ragged battle cry. I could feel the black crawling up my nostrils and mingling with tears. The battered grass had turned crimson from the carnage, clumps of muck coupling together threatening to grasp my feet and never lose grip. It had begun to rain, the sky murked with clouds and strings of lightning dancing across; I did not falter. My legs ached as I sprinted, legs carrying me as if they were completely dissociated from my body. The cold chewed at my bare skin, clad in only a rugged chiton caked with gore and rapidly becoming bone-chillingly soaked. </p><p>Currents of air whistled in my ears, being interrupted only by the occasional scream or gurgle as my brethren fell to their knees at the meeting of weapon to bone - I had toiled through war long enough that I knew that there was no point in saving them. The downpour was relentless now, men staggering to safety as they quickly were drenched; I was only able to see a couple of feet through the wet, yet the figure ahead of me was unmistakable. </p><p>Dark hair clung to his hollowed cheeks, sodden and matted from the sludgy ground. Underneath his skin were tones of sickly grey, as if his blood could no longer circulate around his broken body. He hung pitifully as I sat him on my trembling lap, his head lulling and his listless eyes barely focusing on me. Lips trembled as if to speak, but whatever words there had been die in my tightening throat. He had promised me he would return. There was a single wound just below his sternum, cascading blood and pooling at my knees akin to the river styx. Utter silence surrounds the both of us, not even the cruel rain penetrated our bubble of solitude. The inside of my soul - there is nothing to compare to my grief. </p><p>“A-chi-lles,” He dies with my name on his lips. </p><p>I feel as if I could eat the world raw.</p>
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